Airport transits are the dullest of experiences. This is the key to surviving them

The way to survive an airport transit is to fly non-stop. Because really, who wants to pass needless hours in the hideous limbo of a transit lounge, travels momentarily suspended and your jet lag increasing? Transit time is dead time, like being on a train stuck in a tunnel.

The other way to navigate a transit might be to dress up, wear a nice hat and pretend you’re in the 1930s, when flying was a glamorous affair and the very fact of being in an airport at all was something to celebrate.

This is, however, an unconvincing act these days. The modern airport is a Kafkaesque experience of endless corridors, crowds and turgid security queues that can only be avoided by those with a private jet.

The secret to survival is to accept that a stopover is your karma, so you might as well make the most of it. We don’t really take in airports, but if you get into sightseeing mode and pretend your holiday has already begun, time will pass more quickly.

Blandly international as airport terminals might be, you’ll always find something of local interest. The architecture for a start. Check out the steel and bamboo ceilings in Madrid, the honeycomb windows in Shenzhen that throw patterned light across the floor, the Islamic latticework in Dubai, the Indian art in Mumbai’s new Terminal 2.

Find the gardens, which are inspired by the Forbidden City in Beijing, and by the rainforest in Singapore. Get outside to the airport brewery in Munich, or golf course in Seoul.

Even the shops can bring you hints of culture if you overlook all the Toblerone and Johnny Walker. Check out the stuffed dates in Abu Dhabi, and the cedar-wood and musk perfumes of the Emirates’ oldest perfumer Ajmal.

Visit the Rijksmuseum shop in Amsterdam, and venerable tea store Fukujuen in Tokyo. Even the Kit Kats are worth investigating in Japanese airports: you’ll find flavours such as pumpkin, strawberry cheesecake and hot chilli.